As the United States of America reaches its semiquincentennial on 4 July 2026, museums across the country are grappling with what being American and celebrating the US means. Cultural institutions are digging deeper, highlighting American artists, imagery, and artifacts to explore the nation’s history. Artists from a multitude of backgrounds, spanning centuries and geographical locations, are put in conversation to examine what the last 250 years have meant for the country and what the future may hold. Below is a list of exhibits at museums across the nation.
1. Native Americans of New Jersey: Past and Present
Lincroft, New Jersey. Monmouth Museum. Through 2 September 2026. Curated by Dr Phoebe Farris, of Powhatan-Pamunkey descent, this exhibit was developed with guidance from Indigenous artists, authors, humanities experts, educators, and Monmouth University’s provost. Historical objects and contemporary artwork are put in conversation to help visitors understand Indigenous life across the region. The exhibit features artifacts and items shared by tribal communities and the Monmouth County Historical Association, along with loans through a partnership with Art Bridges. Also featuring bilingual interpretation, interactive elements, and subsidized tours for Title I schools, the exhibit aims to make the history and presence of Indigenous people accessible to all.
2. Much Here is Beautiful: Photography Surveys of the US Bicentennial
Washington DC. Smithsonian American Art Museum. 18 September 2026 – 18 April 2027. Titled after a line in former US poet laureate Robert Hayden’s poem American Journal, this exhibit includes selected images from photography surveys documenting people and places from the 19th century to the years before and after the US bicentennial in 1976. That year, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), inspired by the Farm Security Administration’s Great Depression-era photographs, created a grant program to fund regional photographic projects capturing America 200 years on. The result: more than 70 NEA-funded photo surveys yielding thousands of photos by over 200 photographers.
3. America at 250
Boston, Massachusetts. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Opens 19 June. The MFA Boston merges art produced by a wide range of artists – from Indigenous and non-Indigenous creators to Caribbean, North, South, and Central American makers – to grapple with nationhood and which symbols are celebrated. One juxtaposition in the exhibit is the way a founding father is remembered. For the Mohawk Nation, George Washington is known as “Town Destroyer,” but many Americans celebrate him as a founder. In the exhibit, a depiction of Washington by Mohawk artist Alan Michelson is contrasted with an unfinished portrait of the first president from 1796 by Gilbert Stuart. Coinciding with the nation’s 250th, MFA Boston is unveiling a major reinstallation of its 18th-century Art of the Americas galleries, featuring more than 400 works, including long-unseen pieces and new acquisitions.
4. Facing Freedom in America
Chicago, Illinois. Chicago History Museum. Opens 4 July. Though 55 delegates attended the constitutional convention sessions, of which 39 ultimately signed the constitution, it has been subsequent Americans – through generations of struggle and service – who have sought to define what “freedom” means. Using images, artifacts, and interactive elements, the Facing Freedom exhibit asks viewers what their own contribution to freedom in the country might be. The long-running exhibit features new works this year, created by four artists reflecting on the country’s founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, the 13th Amendment, and the Northwest Ordinance.
5. Containing Multitudes
Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minneapolis Institute of Art. Through 2 August. Named for the famous stanza in Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself, Containing Multitudes seeks to celebrate “the richness and contradictions” of the American experience through photography. The exhibit features 95 works from the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s permanent collection, juxtaposing older images with recent acquisitions, putting photographers old and new in conversation. Widely known national artists like Dawoud Bey, Carrie Mae Weems, and Ansel Adams tell the American story alongside contemporary artists in Minnesota, like Jaida Grey Eagle, Alec Soth, and Xavier Tavera. The exhibit also features a selection of anonymous amateur photographs.
6. Mississippi Made
Jackson, Mississippi. Two Mississippi Museums. Through 6 November. Mississippi Made tells the story of more than two centuries of the Magnolia state’s agricultural, musical, scientific, and artistic contributions to the country through approximately 250 artifacts. Artifacts include a Lindsey eight-wheel log wagon developed in the early 20th century. The state’s rich musical and literary history is represented through items from BB King, Leontyne Price, and Elvis Presley, as well as portraits of William Faulkner and Richard Wright painted by Mississippi artists.
7. We Make History
Washington, DC. Anacostia Community Museum. Through January 2028. Marking the nation’s 250th anniversary this year and the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum’s 60th anniversary next, We Make History shows visitors how communities in the DC area contribute to the country’s story. We Make History opened on 30 May, the 185th anniversary of the first entry of Adam Francis Plummer’s diary. Plummer’s diary anchors the exhibit, which also includes letters, photographs, and other items illustrating how community stories “are our nation’s building blocks.”
8. America 250: Common Threads
Bentonville, Arkansas. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Through 27 July. Common Threads commemorates both the 1776 events that led to the nation’s founding and the subsequent 250 years of American art and civic participation. The exhibit invites guests to explore how previous generations marked celebrations of the country’s founding, from America’s centennial in 1876 to other 20th-century patriotic displays. Also included are historical works – textiles, paintings, and toys, among others – from 1776. Local quilters and quilting guilds will work in the galleries to piece quilt squares made by K-12 students from across Arkansas and designed by Basil Kincaid.
9. The Statue of Liberty from Bartholdi to Warhol
Fort Worth, Texas. Amon Carter Museum of American Art. 15 August – 3 January 2027. With nearly 100 artworks by more than 70 artists, this exhibit uses arguably one of the most iconic American symbols – the Statue of Liberty – to explore themes of patriotism, resistance, and immigration. Centered around a cast of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s bronze sculpture, one of only five domestic-scale reductions made during his lifetime, the exhibit examines the statue throughout its history.
10. Life, Liberty and Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California. Autry Museum. Through 31 January 2027. “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is one of the defining phrases of the Declaration of Independence. The Autry Museum explores that phrase in its latest exhibit, examining how Angelenos have led to the city’s development in their interpretations of those words. Combining historical and contemporary art, items, and media, the exhibit asks viewers to consider the past while shaping the future.
